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TRAVEL | BANGKOK
Why I Smiled My Way Through a Deadly Uprising in Bangkok
Trying not to notice those little bags of gasoline lining the curb
The Bangkok cabbie pulled over and gestured: Get out here. I had no idea where “here” was, but my hotel was nowhere in sight. Lacking any Thai beyond Hello, I wasn’t about to dissuade him. So I got out. Now what?
I’m not a brave person, no intrepid traveler. I’ve never, intentionally, rushed in where angels fear to tread. Yet somehow, I found myself in Thailand in the middle of a “people’s revolution” that would see deadly conflict. Somehow, I found myself lost one evening, alone, smack dab in the middle of an activist base.
It was spring 2009, and I was traveling to teach a 2-week class that I’d built. I was delighted to be sharing it, in Bangkok no less. Best of all, I’d be teaming with my work sister, a treasured friend I’d never sat alongside in an office but had collaborated with remotely over the years.
As the trip approached, we were aware of the political upheaval pitting pro-democracy activists against government forces in Thailand, but it didn’t seem dangerous enough for us to cancel. We’d just need to stay aware of our surroundings and keep in touch.
